Review | Shea Moisture Raw Shea Butter Deep Treatment Masque



If you've followed my blog for a while you'll know I'm a hoarder of many products but deep conditioners in particular. I feel uncomfortable having less than 3 on hand at any given time (weird, I know) but there is one I've been reaching for over the others recently - the Shea Moisture Raw Shea Butter Deep Treatment Masque (£12.99).

I bought this beauty back in April along with a couple of other Shea Moisture masques (thank you Boots 3 for 2 offer) but I wasn't entirely sure what to expect. I asked a few of you on Instagram and many claimed this was one of their 'holy grail' products whilst others were less impressed, preferring some of the other Shea Moisture conditioners. This masque is formulated with damaged, transitioning hair in mind but don't let that put you off if you have all natural or relaxed hair. Apart from some pesky split ends, my natural hair has been thriving lately but I knew this product would keep the protein and moisture balance in check.


It's a very thick, buttery consistency with what I can only describe as a faint scent of the sea. The strange scent must be due to this being made with sea kelp which admittedly I Googled as I wasn't entirely sure what it was or how it could be beneficial to hair. Sea kelp is a brown algae rich in minerals and said to be good for hair growth, though this doesn't appear to have been proven. It's supposed to give a smoothing effect here. The formula of this masque also includes ingredients such as castor, olive, carrot and argan oil with a hearty dose of shea butter. What I did notice is the formula of the US version of this product is slightly different (see here), with some ingredients in smaller quantity (shown nearer to the bottom of the list) or omitted entirely for the UK product (see here).

Without trying both I'm not sure how much of a difference this actually makes but with one use I noticed good results - soft and moisturised curls - and that has continued with every use since. I had best results when used with my steamer (as with most deep conditioners I have) but if you don't have one covering the hair with a plastic cap will do the trick. I only have a very small amount of this masque left now and I would definitely buy this again.

Have you tried any Shea Moisture products? 

Lesley x